As Victor mimed his charade, he took a couple of steps, clutched his throat and fell to the floor: Can YOU solve our festive whodunnit, by the Rev RICHARD COLES
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Oh, this is simply too much,' said Audrey. 'Christmas Eve and we've doubled the numbers for lunch tomorrow...'. 'Your idea,' said Daniel, 'so don't complain,' though he knew that complaining about a predicament his mother had engineered herself was half the fun.
![[Artwork by David Young depicting a scene from the festive murder mystery novel]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/24/01/93435671-14222269-Artwork_by_David_Young_depicting_a_scene_from_the_festive_murder-a-20_1735002487119.jpg)
Audrey had insisted Lord Bernard de Floures and his family join them for Christmas lunch at the rectory after hearing that their cook had been called away on a family emergency. The de Floures lived just half a mile away at Champton House, their family seat since the Norman Conquest.
![[In this instalment, a post-Christmas dinner game of charades turns a sinister turn]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/24/01/93435673-14222269-In_this_instalment_a_post_Christmas_dinner_game_of_charades_turn-a-22_1735002487120.jpg)
Along with Lord Bernard, his children, Honoria and Alex, his cousin Jane and her American husband Victor, Audrey had also invited Miss March, who ran Elite Fashions, the local dress shop. 'But must you invite every waif and stray, Daniel?'. 'Neil. I invited Neil. You've invited half the county.'.
![[The pudding had burnt with a satisfactory blue flame. The silver sixpence buried within was preserved for this use in the Clement family for three generations, writes Reverend Coles]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/24/01/93435675-14222269-The_pudding_had_burnt_with_a_satisfactory_blue_flame_The_silver_-a-23_1735002487139.jpg)
DS Neil Vanloo and Rev Daniel Clement had become somewhat of an unlikely crime-solving duo, solving a string of murders which had of late plagued the picturesque village of Champton. Daniel sorely hoped they would not have to put their detective skills to the test this Christmas.
Audrey wasn't listening. 'Theo...'. The cover of Murder Under The Mistletoe by the Reverend Richard Coles. Her other son had been cutting crosses into a pile of Brussels sprouts – a pointless exercise he suspected, needless effort for a loveless vegetable.
